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Gluten-Free Celebs: Good or Evil?

Kim Kardashian has joined the ranks of celebs who admitted to using a gluten-free diet to lose weight. Miley Cyrus, Zooey Deschanel, Scarlett Johansson, Billy Bob Thornton, Ryan Phillipe, Victoria Beckham, Selma Blair, and many others have all been linked to gluten-free diets for a variety of reasons. Some have celiac’s, wheat allergies, sensitivities, or just want to feel better or get slimmer (Obviously, a gluten-free diet won’t necessarily make you lose weight. There are plenty of gf foods with as much fat and sugar as any other junk food out there!). But the question is: how do you feel when a celebrity announces that they have gone gluten-free?

For me, if the celeb suffers from celiac or an allergy, I usually want to send them a gf-free cookie basket. But the ones who treat the gluten-free lifestyle as a fad diet really make me angry. That sort of flippant treatment of a diet that is the only cure for the disease I suffer from kind of makes me want to punch those celebs in the face. Cutting out all grains (including gf grains) will help you lose weight, but that doesn’t make you gluten-free. It means you are on a no-grain diet. You will not get sick if the waiter accidentally puts salad dressing containing wheat on your salad or if your salmon has a glaze made with soy sauce on it. You probably won’t even realize that you consumed gluten, so you certainly won’t complain to the restaurant or bother to correct that waiter’s assumption that the dish he served you was NOT, in fact, gluten-free. So chances are, he’ll recommend that same not-gf dish to someone with celiac’s and make them really sick. And, because of the followings these celebs have, they often inspire others to emulate them–ensuring that waiters and restaurants all over the country think things are gf that are not. See why this makes me angry?

I used to be delighted when a celeb announced that they followed a gluten-free diet. When Jenny McCarthy promoted the gf lifestyle back in 2006, I saw a whole new host of gf products show up in my grocery store. It was like Christmas for my taste buds. But, as time has gone on, it seems like celebrities aren’t inspiring more products–they’re just diluting the seriousness of an issue that affects so many people!

One thought on “Gluten-Free Celebs: Good or Evil?”

I went gluten free for weight loss/ nutrition, after my boyfriend went into the paleo diet. I’m vegetarian (been so for 7 years) and after an allergy to a pill I was sensitive to many, many foods, lots of plants, and even the sun! and gained 20kg on corticosteroids in 3 weeks. So once I went back to normal-ish allergy-wise, I tried many things for weight loss, and I couldn’t make it. Finally I stopped eating gluten and refined sugar altogether; I lost 25kg in total and I feel wonderful. The funny thing is I’m pretty sure I do have some kind of sensitivity; I can eat a huge amount of unhealthy things – like homemade potato chips/ fries or salted peanuts! – and I won’t gain weight, but a piece of wholewheat bread and I gain 2kg, only to lose them within 2 days of not eating gluten. Water retention probably. What is it that makes my body react like that? Who knows. I know I don’t feel healthy at all when I eat gluten, I know this started after my pill allergy and I know it doesn’t show up in med exams. I also know it’s far from threatening my life and I can eat small amounts of gluten without noticing, but if I eat more I feel tired and bloated like no other food – ok, coffee does the same to me if i drink too much of it, and I’m mildly allergic to caffeine. Maybe?